The present invention relates to chairs having cushion assemblies and covers, and more particularly relates to chairs having cushion assemblies and covers that can be removed for cleaning, repair, and maintenance.
Modern chairs often include fabric-covered cushions to improve comfort. A problem is that fabric-covered cushions get dirty, worn, and damaged, such that they need cleaning and maintenance. However, they are typically permanently attached to the chairs, and are not easily removed or repaired. In schools, medical facilities, and high-use areas such as airports, it is often desirable to sanitize the chairs, but cushioned chairs with fabric are porous and not easily sanitized. Certainly, wiping them is not sufficient. Even beyond these problems, customers often want to upgrade or change the color schemes and designs of their offices. However, it is costly to recover chairs. Also, there are problems with using customer""s own fabrics. Customer""s own fabrics are specific fabrics picked out by a customer. A problem with using them is that they often have unusual or specialized color schemes or other special characteristics. A problem with these customer""s own fabrics is that they may not have the properties desired by the chair manufacturers. For example, fabrics vary widely in their physical properties, such as their stretchability, strength, color-fastness, and the like. For all of these reasons, it is desirable to have cushion assemblies that are able to incorporate customer""s own fabrics in a manner that allows cushions to be structurally xe2x80x9csemi-independentxe2x80x9d of the seat and back support structures of a chair, so that they can be removed for cleaning or replacement, and so that the chair design does not require certain properties in the fabric for the fabric to look acceptable and wear acceptably on the chair. Still further, attachment and covering schemes are desired that provide a modernistic appearance, yet that facilitate assembly and repair. Also, accessories are desired to help store extra cushion and covering assemblies that may be used.
Accordingly, chair constructions are desired that solve the aforementioned problems and that have the aforementioned advantages.
In one aspect of the present invention, a chair includes a seating unit including a seat structure and a back structure where at least one of the structures includes a face adapted to support a person seated thereagainst, with the face having an arrangement of first connectors thereon. A removable cushion assembly includes a cushion, a top covering, and a stabilizing bottom covering that has less than a 5% elongation when stretched and that is sewn to the top covering around the cushion. The removable cushion assembly also has an arrangement of second connectors attached to the bottom covering proximate corners of the cushion and that are releasably attached to the first mechanical connectors for securing the cushion assembly to the one structure. The first and second connectors are configured to release and disengage when the removable cushion assembly is pulled from the one structure.
In another aspect of the present invention, a cushion assembly includes a cushion, a covering on the cushion, and a sheet under the cushion. The sheet is attached along edges to the covering to encapsulate the cushion. The sheet is chosen for its dimensional stability and has an elongation when stretched of less than about 5%. A plurality of mechanical connectors are attached to the sheet and arranged in a predetermined pattern on the sheet so that the mechanical connectors can be accurately attached to a seating component.
In another aspect of the present invention, a method includes steps of providing a seating unit and a cushion assembly attached in at least four corner locations to the seating unit with releasable connectors. The method further includes steps of removing the cushion assembly from the seating unit by disengaging the connectors. The method also includes performing maintenance on the cushion assembly including one of cleaning and refurbishing a component of the cushion assembly and reattaching the cushion assembly to the seating unit by re-engaging the connectors.
In another aspect of the present invention, a seating unit includes a back with a front face, an upper edge, and a lower edge. A removable fabric vest covers a majority of the front face of the back and includes an upper portion releasably attached to the upper edge and a lower portion releasably attached to the lower edge.
In yet another aspect of the present invention, a seating unit includes a back, and a covering attached to the back including a top connector and a bottom connector. The bottom connector includes a stretchable material. A fire-resistant covering is provided that covers the stretchable material to provide improved resistance to fire damage.
Another aspect of the present invention includes a chair comprising a seating unit which includes a seat structure and a back structure, both of which are supported for synchronous movement upon recline. At least one of the structures includes a face adapted to support a person seated thereagainst. The face has an arrangement of first mechanical connectors thereon. The chair also includes a removable cushion assembly with an arrangement of second mechanical connectors that releasably snap-attach to the first mechanical connectors and also secure the cushion assembly to the one structure.
In another aspect of the present invention, a chair comprising a seating unit includes a seat structure having an arrangement of six fixed snap-attach connectors thereon. A removable cushion assembly with an arrangement of six mating snap-attach connectors are releasably attached to the fixed snap-attach connectors and secure the cushion assembly to the one structure.
In another aspect of the present invention, a hanger is provided that is adapted to support a back covering for a chair, where the back covering includes a front panel shaped to cover a front surface of the chair back and where the back covering also includes a rear panel sewn to the front panel along a top edge of the rear panel to define a pocket for engaging and hanging on a top edge of the chair back. The hanger includes a center section having a hook adapted to hang on a bar and has an elongated stem. Opposing wing sections attach only to a bottom of the elongated stem. The opposing wing sections have an upper edge shaped to replicate the top edge of the chair back so that the vest will hang on the hanger when the wing sections are extended into the pocket. In a narrower aspect, a cushion assembly and a vest are hung as a set on the hanger.